Deni Avdija and Israel have delivered a knockout.
The Portland Trail Blazers standout had another strong individual international performance and Israel defeated Belgium, 92-89, Tuesday in Group D play at the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 tournament in Katowice, Poland.
The win guaranteed that Israel will advance to the 16-team knockout round.
Avdija, as he has throughout the group stage, played a starring role in Israel’s victory. The Blazers’ starting small forward finished with 22 points, four assists and three rebounds, reaching the 20-point mark for the fourth time in four Group D games.
He became the first Israeli player to score 20 or more points in more than three games at a EuroBasket tournament since Oded Kattash in 1997, according to FIBA.
Israel built a 21-point first-half lead, then withstood a late Belgium rally to earn the win, improving to 3-1 and advance beyond the group stage for the first time in more than a decade.
Isral and Avdija will conclude Group D play Thursday against Luka Doncic and Slovenia.
Watch Avdija’s highlights below:
—Joe Freeman is a senior writer at The Oregonian/OregonLive covering the Trail Blazers and NBA. Reach him at 503-294-5183,jfreeman@oregonian.com,@BlazerFreeman or@freemanjoe.bsky.social. Our journalism needs your support.Subscribe today toOregonLive.com.
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